Grey said, “Eighty percent of crab larvae samples collected from an area of the Gulf stretching from Louisiana to Florida showed evidence of the orange substance.”

The larvae “tested positive for hydrocarbons,” Grey told the paper, though subsequent tests have “yet to give a definitive answer on whether the unusual substance contains either oil or dispersants related to the oil spill.”

“This is something that researchers with decades of experience have never seen before, and we think it must be linked to the spill,” noted Grey.

The report added, “Initial screenings by NOAA scientists have not found the unusual orange droplets or other signs of oil in blue crab larvae, says John Lamkin, a fisheries scientist with NOAA.”